Some of you may have noticed that “Friends of the Nose” link in the sidebar (to your right, and down a little bit), but I’d guess that most of you haven’t. These are sites of people who’ve written for the Nose, or are simply people who hang out here a bit. Since a proper article isn’t in the cards for today, here are a couple of articles our friends have written recently:

Raise your hand if your teachers told you this when you were growing up. Wow! That many of you! That’s a LOT of unlived-up-to potential! Let us pause for a moment and imagine the earthly Paradise we would inhabit if all of you gathered up all that unused potential and just, you know, worked up to it!

The message that one was not working up to potential was supposed to be good news. It meant, “Your failures are not indicative of your true, inner nature. Inside, you’re really smart!” Though attractively wrapped in praise of our capacities, the judgment that we were not living up to our potential was a critique of our behavior.

[…] Recently Sara Goas, one of the writers who contributes [to Magnificent Nose], had a great post: “Inspiration” — a fictional story about an English teacher, her students and ideas — and where they come from.

I loved this story because my entire career has been about ideas. So for me, it was very personal. Thankfully, it’s only happened to me once, but I have suffered through writer’s block, and let me assure you, it’s terrifying. So I know first hand just how hard to come by an idea can be; and, like the teacher in Sara’s story, I also know where to look for inspiration.